


Long Overdue

by yersifanel



Series: This is ourselves [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dimension Travel, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 07:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5700889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yersifanel/pseuds/yersifanel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Did you guys lose an archer?"</p><p>Cisco had a valid question. After all archers tend to go for Starling City rather than Central, it was kind of their thing. So, having what seems like a feral archer on the loose in Central City was not a regular event for them.</p><p>Or: how an archer from another dimension with a very familiar face kind of plays match maker for the vigilantes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Overdue

**Author's Note:**

> I have a thing for this ship, so here's my offering to the fandom. 
> 
> Please excuse the mistake you most likely will find. English in not my first language and this story has not been read by a beta.

"Did you guys lose an archer?"

Cisco had a valid question. After all archers tend to go for Starling City rather than Central, it was kind of their thing. So, having what seems like a feral archer on the loose in Central City was not a regular event for them.

Main problem? This archer was good, really good. Shot The Flash and break his heel good (there was some Greek joke about that in there, but Barry's hurt puppy face kept him from saying it out loud.)

So now Cisco was holding an arrow and showing it to Felicity via video communication, it was extremely similar to Oliver's arrows, but the tip was dark red and the fletching gold and black. Frankly, it was a beautiful piece of equipment, it not for the fact that it was used to temporary create a weakness for Barry (Greek joke in there, still resisting the urge to say it out loud) Cisco would admire the handy work done by the archer or whoever crafter the arrows. It was a bit hard to do so when you had to pull it out of your friend’s foot first.

Oliver was over the screen a second later, a deep frown on his face.

"Barry?"

Cisco moved to the side, showing them how behind him Caitlin was pulling another arrow from Barry's back, the speedster in question glaring at yet another arrow embedded in his arm as it had personally offended him, and now that Cisco thought about it, it kind of did.

"It might take a couple of hours to make a full recovery—"

"JESUS CHRIST!" Barry couldn't help himself, it hurt and Caitlin mumble an apology and moved to the next arrow.

"Or maybe overnight..." the engineer winced, looking back to Felicity and Oliver on the screen, "I'm not sure how he got Barry."

"It's not possible for him to draw that fast, it is not," Barry said exasperatedly, facing the screen with a mortified expression, "He didn't surprise me, he didn't used extra bows or anything of the sorts, I was paying attention I swear!"

Oliver didn't look angry, merely concerned. Barry didn't seem to catch it, burying his face in his hands and groaning when Caitlin pulling the arrow from his arm. Cisco had the feeling his friend was mortified not because of the archer or the fact that he failed to catch him, he was pretty sure it had more to do with the Srtarling Vigilante than their mystery archer.

Felicity stopped typing, looking from the screen to Oliver, "Could be the League..."

And just like that, Arrow Team was on their way to Central City. Oliver trusted Barry, he really did, but he didn’t trust the League and was not going to risk a loose assassin in a neighbor city. If his concern had to do more with certain speedster getting hurt than whatever the League was after, he didn't mention it.

Digg was kind enough to not say it, but by the side glance he gave Oliver, the man was definitely thinking it.

\----------

The mystery archer broke into Mercury Labs, shooting surveillance cams and generally making a nuisance of himself. If he weren’t going to most likely steel something dangerous, Cisco might actually recognize the smoothness of the break in.

"He's right in front of you guys," Felicity said though the coms, looking at the screen as the Arrow and the Flash entered the room.

Oliver was quick to draw his bow, aiming at the rogue archer, who was going over some gadgets, "Don't move!"

Barry ran towards the archer, he wasn't expecting to fall flat on his face when an arrow pierced his heel - again! - Because the archer had not even been pointing at him.

"Lower you bow or I'll make a pin cushion out of him," the rogue archer was aiming at Oliver but talking about Barry, which just confused both vigilantes. The modulated voice of the rogue archer held no hesitation and when Oliver didn't lower his bow, the rogue archer sighed, "Honestly?"

Oliver shot first, the rouge archer a split second later... and both arrows ended up embedded in Barry's back.

"Told ya."

He couldn't see the other archer very well, he was wearing a hood, but he could most certainly tell he was smirking.

"Flash?" Oliver asked though gritted teeth as Barry slowly but firmly stood up, trying to ignore the three arrows piercing his flesh.

"I'm ok," no one believed that statement.

"Your code name is Flash?" the rouge archer asked, sounding amused even over the modified voice, "You're still Black Arrow, right? Wait no, that can't be right, you're wearing green."

The archer made a face, looking between the two of them and Barry wished he could see his eyes to figure out what was their opponent thinking. The archer shot Oliver this time and Barry was quick to catch the arrow, making the rouge archer smile for some reason, "Ah, I get it!"

The archer shot Oliver again and Barry immediately moved to stop the arrows while Oliver shot a series of his own. Things were going more or less fine, until the four arrows Oliver shoot disappeared on their way against the rouge archer and ended up piercing Barry instead, sending him to the ground with a pained cry.

Oliver looked furious while the rogue archer chuckled, "Are we done? I really need to get going."

Barry got to his knees, Oliver right beside him, his bow still drawn.

"Look, I'm having fun and all that but if you shoot me again I'm going to make sure the arrow goes though his eye his time, are we clear?" He pointed at both of them, a smirk on his face, "I will do it. Don’t test me."

"What do you want?" Barry took one of the arrows of his leg, hissing in pain.

"I wanna go home," mumbled the rouge archer and shot the ceiling, making the arrow explode and killing the lights.

Oliver was carefully in taking the arrows off Barry's body, looking extremely conflicted at the fact that almost all of them were his arrows and not the rogue archer's.

How the hell did he do that?

\----------

They were fighting the archer while Cisco, Caitlin and Felicity observed over the coms, Diggle was backing up Oliver and Barry, waiting for the right moment.

"What about Rogue, just Rogue?" suggested Caitlin, looking the screen while Barry ran around the archer.

"I think that one's already taken, I'm not sure..." Cisco mumbled on the side while giving instructions to Oliver and Digg about the archer.

The archer shot Barry again, making the speedster crash into him, something the archer was not planning, judging for this oh shit expression before the impact.

"Well, we can't keep calling him feral archer who gives us headaches," Cisco rolled his eyes, "Even if that's an accurate description."

"He's in our coms!" Felicity was not amused.

The archer hit Barry over the head with his bow, then shot at Oliver while screaming, "TELL CISCO THE NAME'S FLASHPOINT!"

A moment later the arrows exploded and Cisco thought Flashpoint was an interesting name choice.

\----------

"It's not your fault," Barry winced when another arrow was pulled off him, "Really."

"These are my arrows," Oliver traced his fingers over the wound on Barry's lower back, "I don't understand."

Barry sighed, closing his eyes as he rested his head over his arms. He was sitting backwards on a chair, resting his weigh over the chair's back, "He's not a regular archer... I'm not sure but he's... teleporting your arrows to another target, I guess?"

"I was aiming at his chest," Oliver admitted, "It hit you in the back... I could have killed you."

"Oliver," Barry turned around to look at the other vigilante, "I'm fine, really."

He didn't look reassured, but nodded anyways.

\----------

During a battle, Oliver was able to wound Flashpoint, making him drop a stone arrowhead he was wearing as a necklace.

It was a hozen, it was similar, if not exactly the same, as the one Shado gave to him in the island.

"Give it back!" They had battled Flashpoint several times now and he had not seen him lose his temper once, until that very moment, "Give it back, Oliver."

Flashpoint aimed his bow at him, his hands firm and his stand aggressive. Oliver was momentary stunned by the fact the archer knew who he was, but collected himself in time to dodge the arrow shot at him.

"You need to calm down," Oliver hissed but it was Barry who delivered the punch, sending Flashpoint crashing over the windows of a nearby building.

Flashpoint shock the glass off and glared at them with a murderous look, a seconds later he was behind Barry, the tip of an arrow pressing against his neck, "You are going to tell your boyfriend to give my amulet back. Right. Now."

"Wha…?"

Flashpoint rolled his eyes, "Not yet, seriously?"

"Let him go!" Oliver was too angry, aiming at Flashpoint's head as he spoke, the other archer looked unimpressed.

"If you shoot I'll make the arrow go in his eye," he said, nodding at Barry, "And if you move I'll make the arrow go in _his_ eye."

Barry stopped struggling immediately, Flashpoint looked way too pleased with himself. The speedster hissed at him, "Damn you."

"I'm totally doing it Oliver, don't test me," he pressed the arrow against Barry's neck, ripping the suit in the process, "The hozen, give it back."

Oliver tossed the amulet back to him, it dissolved in the air and appeared right in Flashpoint's hand, he pushed Barry away in favor of holding the amulet against his chest, he wasn't fast enough to dodge Oliver's arrow, making him hiss in pain it pierced his shoulder.

The blood hit the ground and then Flashpoint was gone.

\----------

"This makes no sense," Cisco said for the fourth time in a row.

"Maybe we got the wrong sample," Felicity offered, looking at the screen where the display of the Flashpoint's blood result.

"Surely," Caitlin agree, because there was no way Flashpoint could be related in any way, shape or form to Barry.

Right?

\----------

Flashpoint blinked twice, tilting his head at the Arrow.

"Excuse me?"

"I can take you back to the League, if that's what you want," he wasn't particularly happy with the idea, but this archer was making him twitchy, "Back to Nanda Parbat."

The other archer fidgeted with this bow, the gesture was somehow familiar, "I-I'm not-"

"You're wearing garments from the League of Assassins. I know that if you don't go back to them, they will come for you sooner or later," granted, it was not a standard garment, it was black with some dark read outlining and a touch of gold here and there, it reminded him of Nyssa. "Don't mix innocents in the crossfire."

The archer's shoulder's slumped and Oliver knew he hit an important point, "I really miss this side of you."

It was Oliver's turn to frown in confusion, "Pardon me?"

Flashpoint sighed and pulled his hood down, taking off the dark red mask and turning his voice modulator off before speaking in a very familiar voice, "Nanda Parbat is home, but not in this world."

Whatever Oliver was expecting it was not this.

"How?"

He was staring at Barry, same face, same eyes, same brown hair, the only difference was a scar across his left eyebrow.

"What? A weird anomaly has never pulled you out of your life and tossed you to another dimension? You should totally try it; it's a fun ride..." His mile didn't reach his eyes and his eyes were shinning with unshed tears, "Too bad I can't find my ticket back."

He was clutching the hozen so hard, looking distressed and lost. Oliver didn't know what to do with this information, so he just stared at him for a good full minute.

Barry knocked Flashpoint out and carried him to a containment cell, he was too confused to ask questions.

\----------

"This is going to be confusing."

Barry was sitting on the floor before Flashpoint's containment cell, his mirror image was sitting on the floor as well, his back against the wall, "Barth."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Barth," He clarified, shrugging one shoulder. "I don't particularly like it, but after hearing Ra's al Ghul call me Bartholomew every single time, Barth was an improvement."

"They didn't give you another name?" Oliver's voice echoed in the hallway, making both Barrys look at him.

Barth narrowed his eyes, nodding, "Nur-Taemia."

"Blinding light," Oliver frowned, "You picked it?"

"Nope," he clicked his tongue, looking amused, "I was kind of dead when they took me to Nanda Parbat."

"So you were named... after they nurse you back to health..." Barth raised an eyebrow, making a so-so motion with his hand,

"Nursed back to life, actually."

Oliver tried to ignore the implication of Barry not being alive, it hurt to think about it, so he dodged that bullet instead, "Who named you?"

He smiled and it was sincere and painful at the same time, "The heir to the Demon," he looked proud, "He likes me."

Barth rested his arms over his knees, pulling them close to his chest, looking between Barry and Oliver with a small smirk on his face. Oliver looked too stunned to talk and Barry was plain confused by the whole situation, Barth seemed to be having way more fun at their expense and resisted the urge to giggle.

"You two are hopeless," he clicked his tongue again, "I seriously recommend doing something about that, ASAP."

"What? I don't— What are you say— What?" Barry stumble over his words and Barth had enough, he blinked and suddenly he was out of his cell, right in front of Oliver but he was looking at Barry.

"Don't wait until he leaves," Barth hissed at his counterpart and then fixed his eyes on Oliver, "And you..."

The kiss was harsh, more teeth than necessary and Oliver was stunned by the act itself to react properly, Barry yelped behind them, pushing his double away, his checks suspiciously heated and an angry flare shinning in his eyes.

Barth licked his lips, smiling while his eyes when from Oliver to Barry to Oliver again, motioning to Barry, "You... don't wait until he dies."

He should have expected Barry's punch, he would have done the same, but the raw fear in Oliver's eyes distracted him.

God... he missed him.

\----------

"So, not a speedster," Cisco walked around Barth as the definitely metahuman yawned while Caitlin took a blood sample, "You're a teleporter."

"I used to be a speedster," he commented nonchalantly, "But my speed kind of went away after I dropped dead." Oliver tensed and everyone looked at the not-longer-a-speedster in confusion, "I got better."

"How?" Felicity looked too troubled and keep on touching Barry, as if to make sure he was still there, just to make sure that whatever his counterpart was saying was not going to happen to him, "And please don't say magic."

"Ok, I won't say it."

"Whatever," Cisco said, trying very hard to not think about Barry dying. "You teleport things now."

"Something like that, I kind of punch holes in the fabric of reality and re-arrange them later, not as cool as super-speed but it comes in handy."

He winked at Barry, who looked extremely uncomfortable and was avoiding looking at his double or Oliver, finding the floor way more interesting. Barth chuckled, looking at the way Oliver glanced at Barry when he thought no one was looking, it made the bruise in his jaw was totally worth it.

God damn it, he missed his Oliver.

\----------

"This probably won't work," Cisco motioned to the gadgets Barth stole over the past few weeks, apparently he was trying to build an artefact to help him create another anomaly like the one brought him to their world in order to go back to his own.

Barth didn't even look offended, just resigned, "I know... but I have to try."

They build the machine, activated and Barth punched a hole into the fabric of reality.

It brought the Spanish inquisition.

"Well that was unexpected."

\----------

Oliver and Barth were tossing and shooting tennis balls at each other in an attempt to train and relieve some stress.

Barry was not jealous.

What he indeed was, however, is a very lousy liar.

\----------

After dealing with metahumans, mirakuru soldiers and people from different worlds, Barry thought nothing could surprise him anymore.

He should have known better.

"Is that a dementor terrorizing the city?" the somber figure cladded in black, floating around while making weird noises and making the lights around explode fitted the 'dementor' description.

"Nah, that's an errant demon," Barth said into his coms, he could hear Felicity complaining in the background about him touching stuff he was told not to, "Look out!"

The demon went after Barry and Oliver got in the way, because of course he would do that. Barth cursed under his breath and used all his reserves to jump from his place in the labs to somewhere between Barry, Oliver and the demon.

"Don't you dare!"

He was feeling dizzy, jumping to places out of this sigh takes a toll on him, every time. He blinked, trying to make sense of the world, to give time to the men behind him to do something. Oliver shoot several arrows and Barry actually threw a lighting, both went right though the demon.

"Uh-oh."

The demon rushed over Barth, covering him in an eerie blue light, it was cold, yet... somehow... it felt familiar.

"There you are, kiddo!" he knew that voice, but it was confusing hearing it from the demon. Such creatures usually spoke with guttural noises, not a British accent.

Barth slowly opened his eyes, not daring to hope just yet but also wanting to, "Constantine?"

"The one and only."

Behind him, Barry was gaping at the British dementor look alike while Oliver was mouthing Constantine's name with some sort of recognition.

"Took me forever to find ya', riding wraiths to other dimension ain't easy, ya know?"

"I..." Barth frowned, "You were looking for me?"

"Of course, request from his Royal Pain In The Ass himself, I was gonna take that one," he said pointing at Barry and if Barth wasn't as stunned as he was right now, he would have giggle at the way Oliver moved to stand in front of Barry, looking notably pissed off, "But his soul is whole, glad I checked twice."

"We only look alike," Barth rolled his eyes, "Although, with Oliver that close, I can see why it would confuse your spirt-tracking thingy."

The demon thing shrugged, it actually shrugged. Barry was having a headache just by seeing it.

"Whatever, I'm here to give you a ride home, before your Sweetheart kills someone else."

Barth winced, "Someone else?"

"Meh, they deserved it," Constantine dismissed quickly, "Hurry up, I'm tired of riding this thing, I want to get back to my body."

"Give me a second."

Barth approached Barry and Oliver and kissed them both, smirking against Barry's lips when his counterpart shivered in reaction, right before Oliver gently pushed him away. "Thanks for everything."

"Ra's al Ghul sent a demon hunter to get you back?" Oliver asked, his face blank and his hand around Barry's wrist.

"Al Sah-him, actually," Oliver's eyes grew slightly wide. "Heir to the Demon… He's important to me."

"Barth..."

"It's Nur-Taemia," he said firmly, "Or Flashpoint."

"You don't have to go back," Barry wasn't sure why he said that, probably because he recognized the broken light in his double's eyes.

"Oh, but I do have to, Barry... Al Sah-him needs me and I need him."

He turned around, taking the wraith's cold hand, glancing one more time at them, his eyes fixed in Oliver as the blue light of Constantine's magic covered him.

He missed the Oliver in Al Sah-him.

"Don't wait too long," he whispered, looking at them... So bright, so alive, in green and red and yellow, with their souls intact and their hearts strong, "Don't make our mistake."

And he was gone.

\----------

Oliver stood at the edge of the rooftop, Barry sitting beside him, both wearing their respective suits.

"Are you going back in the morning?" Barry's soft voice asked, taking Oliver from whatever place he went.

"Yes," the vigilante prolonged the silence for a moment, then sat besides his partner, "Would you come with me for a few days?"

Barry blinked twice, then his mouth relaxed in a soft smile, "I would like that."

\----------

He felt cold, he always felt cold when they do this. But Al Sah-him was holding him as he bleeds out over the pit. His dizzied mind focused on Al Sah-him voice telling him to be strong, the make him proud.

"We have to seal the portal, we can't lose you again."

Constantine did the chanting and sealing, but it was his blood – his light – what did the trick.

It was always his light, always.

"Stay with me Nur," Al Sah-him was giving him a command and he nodded, closing his eyes.

He went over the edge and came back, as many times before.

In the morning, he woke up in Oliver's arms, he knew that he would fade soon enough and once again would be just Al Sah-him, so he kissed him while it lasted.

Someday, maybe, he would get his Oliver back.

For now, he had to prepare to jump again behind Al Sah-him back. He had to make sure that in other Earth were they went meant to be, Barry and Oliver were not too late to find each other.

The lips kissing him tasted like ashes and he knew Oliver was gone. Al Sah-him held him firmly, possessive and Nur let him take everything from him, like he always did.

Still, there was a tiny pulse there, a faint breeze that felt like Oliver and Barth let himself hope.

Maybe… someday.


End file.
